Lorain's First Newspaper – October 29, 1878

It's pretty impressive that the Morning Journal is still around in 2023. 

Of course, it's not really a Lorain newspaper any more. In order to survive, it has to appeal to the surrounding communities, and that means that other cities such as Avon and even Westlake get equal time. Nevertheless, it's still amazing that the paper manages to stay in business.

Trying to establish a timeline for its history, and that of its competitors & predecessors, can get pretty complicated. The Lorain Journal started publication in 1921, and bought out its competitor, the Lorain Times-Herald, in 1932. 

So when it became necessary for the Journal to say how long it had been in business, it merely appropriated the starting date for the Lorain Daily Times, one of the Times-Herald's forerunners. That set the date as 1879. Thus the Lorain Journal celebrated its 60th Anniversary in 1939 (which I wrote about here).

It became the Morning Journal on October 1, 1990, when it ceased being an evening newspaper and began publishing in the morning.

Recently, I noticed on the Morning Journal Wiki page that the 'new' founding date is 1876. What does it base that on? I'm not sure.

Anyway, this is all a lead up to an interesting article from the October 23, 1953 Lorain Journal with the story of Lorain's first newspaper – The Lorain Monitor.

First Newspaper of Lorain Rolls Off Presses 75 Years Ago; Publisher Only 15

By JOHN KRUEGER

A 15-year-old boy founded Lorain's first newspaper. From this auspicious start the young man went into the legal profession and real estate business. At 26 he was dead.

Irvin D. Lawler's publication was called The Lorain Monitor. He began printing it by hand when he was 15. Four years later he had borrowed money for a press and was turning out a regular four-page bi-weekly tabloid.

When he was 23 Lawler began practicing law. His office was located at Erie Avenue and Broadway. He sold the paper to A. E. Rowley who changed its name to the Herald.

It was from Rowley's mother that Lawler had received his loan for the press. After graduation from Lorain High School Lawler studied law as an apprentice.

By the age of 26, he was a highly successful attorney and real estate operator. He was married and the father of two sons. His wife, Marcia, was expecting a third child.

It was on s September day in 1889 that Lawler, his brother, Edward, and seven other Lorain businessmen took a trial run in Lawler's new yacht, the "Leo." Enroute to Cleveland a storm broke. The boat went down off Rocky River. Two weeks went by before all the bodies were found. Lawler's was the last to be found. It had drifted to the east side of Cleveland.

From the burned condition of the bodies it was assumed that the craft had blown up, perhaps after being struck by lightning.

Three months after the tragedy, Mrs. Lawler gave birth to her third child, a girl. The daughter is now Mrs. Hazel Bellamy, 63, 19 Newton Street, Norwalk, Her brother, Clifford, lives in Saginaw, Mich. the other brother, Irvin Ray, now deceased, resided in Detroit.

Their mother later married a William Charles. She died last July in Painesville. the Lawler home in Lorain was at 15 Oberlin Avenue.

Lawler was a native of Bay City, Mich. As a boy he lived in the vicinity of what is now Washington park. His father, Jerome, was a contractor. In addition to his brother, Edward, Lawler also had two sisters, Lena and Cynthia.

The future barrister's newspaper pages were eight and three-quarter inches wide by 11 and three-quarters inches deep. Each column was nine and a half inches deep and two and a quarter inches wide. Each page had three columns.

Issues came out every other Tuesday. In October, 1878, 500 readers were paying 15 cents for three-month subscriptions. Advertising rates were five cents per line for the first five lines and three cents for each subsequent line. Space rates were "35 cents per square, 25 cents per half square."

In his paper of October 29, 1878, Lawler wrote, "By measuring this copy with the last issues you will find that the columns are considerably longer than in back numbers. We will enlarge the Monitor as our subscription list admits of."

The first page carried a piece of serialized fiction, "Two Minutes Too Late," presumably authored by Lawler. It was about a girl telegraph operator whose engineer boy friend was about to be involved in a monstrous train wreck if she didn't do something about it. On page 2 there was an editorial addressed "To the Citizens of Lorain and Vicinity." In it Lawler urged his readers to patronize hometown merchants.

He said, "Why deaden the place, dishearten the value of your own property by doing your trading elsewhere when you can buy goods just as cheap as home."

Largest display advertisement in the Oct. 29 issue was a one column by two and one-eighth inch space telling of A. M. Baldwin's Lorain Billiard Parlor where choice wines and liquors were constantly on hand. Baldwin also ran a bowling alley in connection with the billiard parlor.

The rest of the ads were one inch by one inch and all, including Baldwin's, appeared at least three times. The other sponsors were Mrs. T. A. Burton, House Plants; S. A. Andrus, Old Drug Store; F. J. King, Grocery Store; J. B. Linderman, Dry Goods, and Mrs. Kelly, Ladies and Gents Furnishing Goods. 

A news story told of some confusion between boats coming into port. Two schooners, the Red White and Blue and the Penokee, collided during a storm, resulting in slight damage. A tug went out to tow the Bightie into port. The tug missed the boat and ran into the east pier. The Bightie sailed in unescorted and rammed into the Penokee, breaking a yardarm and tearing rigging. Cargoes included coal, stoves, and wood.

Among the personal notices were: "Quail shooting commences Nov. 1... Apples are nearly all gathered... Mr. Gawn is grading the hill around his house. A ball was held in the Ried Tuesday evening. Everything passed of pleasantly...Winter has come... Thanksgiving in a few weeks... The Monitor has moved its offices to the fourth door north of the post office."